학술논문

Historic child homicide burial search in rural woodland
Document Type
article
Source
Forensic Science International: Reports, Vol 8, Iss , Pp 100324- (2023)
Subject
Forensic science
Geoscience
Cold case
EM
Metal detection
DGPS
Criminal law and procedure
K5000-5582
Language
English
ISSN
2665-9107
Abstract
The cold case search for clandestine graves can be challenging due to the length of time elapsed since the crime and the search environment changing itself. This paper reports on a cold case search for “Christine”, a young girl who was reported missing in the mid-1970s in the East Midlands, UK. Once a search sub-area was determined by case reports and new intelligence in rural woodland, a police ground search proved unsuccessful. A multi-phased geoforensic search investigation, using remote sensing and UAV drones, metal detector, EM and dGPS surveys, was subsequently undertaken, with collected data processed and analysed. Results showed 36 discrete dGPS-surveyed metal detector and 3 EM priority targets to be identified which were all intrusively investigated but nothing case-relevant was found. Study implications suggest careful multi-phase remote and geoforensic investigations can give confidence in cold case no-body searches, saving police operational time and costs in such cold case investigations.